Laikipia Holidays

Set in the shadow of Mount Kenya, the Laikipia Plateau is a patchwork quilt of conservancies (private game reserves) home to endangered species. In some, Kenya’s rare wild dogs scour the plains and black rhinos graze, protected by private rangers. Stretching all the way to the Great Rift Valley’s rim, the area is divided into private ranches and reserves, many controlled by native landowners like the Maasai, Laikipia and Samburu people, who generate income from intimate safari tourism. These initiatives have made Laikipia a shining conservation star, creating a biodiverse haven with a wildlife density second only to the famous Maasai Mara.  

Stay in luxury lodges and tented camps that help to protect Africa’s finest: golden-maned lions, Jackson’s hartebeest and half the world’s population of Grevy’s zebra. As you cruise the plains by Jeep, you’ll pass herds of impalas or gazelle and spot shy cheetahs and towering giraffes traversing the hilly savannah. You might even glimpse thousands of elephants making their yearly migration from Laikipia to Samburu during the long rains. At the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, you’ll find rescued chimps and east Africa’s largest black rhino sanctuary, which protects half of the country’s scant population of these fabled creatures.

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Laikipia Hotels

Our recommendations for the best places to stay in Laikipia

Porini Rhino Camp, Ol Pejeta Conservancy

Hidden in a secluded valley in Africa's largest black rhino sanctuary.

Elewana Loisaba Tented Camp

Enjoy a luxury safari experience surrounded by Laikipia’s striking landscape and wildlife.

Elewana Loisaba Star Beds

Sleep under the night sky at Loisaba Star Beds.

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Visit rhinos and chimps at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy

Don’t miss the chance to see the world’s last two northern white rhinos, as well as black rhinos and rescued chimps at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. Located in Laikipia, the 90,000-acre conservancy was once a working cattle ranch in colonial times and is now a sanctuary for wildlife, including the Big Five. In fact, it has one of the highest densities of predators in Kenya and offers some of the country’s most exciting game drives.

The main draw at Ol Pejeta is definitely the rhinos. As the largest black rhino sanctuary in East Africa, it offers sightings of these critically endangered animals. When the programme started in 1993, there were just 20 black rhinos in the park and now there are over 140. Ol Pejeta is also home to around 30 southern white rhinos, who, as a species have been brought back from the brink of extinction. In addition, there’s a unique opportunity to see the world’s two remaining northern white rhinos, who live in a 700-acre enclosure that’s guarded around the clock.

Next visit the Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary. When the Burundi Rescue Centre had to close in 1993 because of civil war, Ol Pejeta stepped in to save the animals. Chimps aren’t native to Kenya and this is the only place in the country where you’ll see them. Partly established by the Jane Goodall Institute, Sweetwaters is home to 35 rescue chimps who roam around a 300-acre area by the river, returning to enclosures to feed and sleep.

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